Making goals, building peace
In Colombia, a local version of the World Cup aims to improve soccer skills and encourage peace.
![Children playing soccer/football in a school yard in Colombia](/sites/default/files/2023-06/rs118491_photo_7_1.jpg)
Each summer for the last four years, a community on the outskirts of Soacha, Colombia, has gathered to watch its children play in their own, local version of the World Cup – a soccer tournament for peace.
In Soacha, where many families have experienced conflict, displacement and violence, MCC partner Creciendo Juntos offers children and youth after-school tutoring, activities and workshops on themes of peace and nonviolence. Creciendo Juntos, whose name means “Growing Together,” is a partner of a local Mennonite church.
The staff at the organization, many of whom are students at a nearby university, run a variety of programs year-round. From games to academic support, to specialized activities like a workshop on violence against women for International Women’s Day, everything that goes on at Creciendo Juntos works to impart a message of peace.
One of the most popular activities of the year is Mundialito por La Paz, Soacha’s “Little World Cup for Peace.” This past summer, the event drew 81 children from ages 6 to 17.
![Children running onto a makeshift pitch in a school yard in Colombia.](/sites/default/files/2023-06/RS118486_Photo%205-lpr.jpg)
![A child, wearing a yellow and green soccer uniform, stands in an empty goal.](/sites/default/files/2023-06/RS118487_RS118487_Photo-4_alt-lpr.jpg)
"Soccer is so huge in Colombia – these kids are already spending so much of their free time playing anyway. And all of the activities at Creciendo Juntos are related to peace and nonviolence, so Mundialito is a way of combining the two.” -Clara Unzicker
![A coach works with kids at on a soccer pitch in a school yard in Colombia.](/sites/default/files/2023-06/RS118492_Photo%206%5B1%5D-lpr.jpg)
![Children stand in a long line on a narrow street in Colombia. A few of them are holding different country flags.](/sites/default/files/2023-06/RS118482_Photo%201%5B1%5D-lpr.jpg)
![A group of children in Colombia. Two are holding makeshift country flags.](/sites/default/files/2023-06/RS118477_Photo%202%5B1%5D-lpr.jpg)
![Children stand on the edge of a soccer pitch, holding country flags, in a school yard in Colombia](/sites/default/files/2023-06/RS118480_Photo%203%5B1%5D-lpr.jpg)